The Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko was summoned for interrogation by the Prosecutor General of Switzerland on the case of elections of host countries of the World Cups 2018 and 2022. It was reported by The Guardian.
According to the British newspaper, Mutko is among the ten officials of the International Football Federation (FIFA) who was summoned for interrogation concerning the violations that occurred during the voting at the elections. In addition to the Russian Minister, the following members of the FIFA Executive Committee were summoned: Issa Hayatou (the president of the Confederation of African Football), Angel Maria Villar Llona (the head of the Royal Spanish Football Federation), Michel D’Hooghe (Belgium), Senes Erzik (Turkey), Worawi Makudi (Thailand), Marios Lefkaritis (Cyprus) and Hany Abo Rida (Egypt). “I was not personally addressed concerning this case for now.
The Swiss Prosecutor’s Office is investigating materials of World Cup bid campaigns at the request of FIFA, as they have reported. Perhaps we, the members of the Executive Committee, will be interrogated, but I still possess no exact information about this. If they address me once more, I see no problem”- TASS quoted Mutko.
A criminal case concerning the elections of host countries of FIFA World Cup 2018 and 2022 was opened in Switzerland. This was reported at the website of the Office of the Prosecutor General of the country. Ten members of the executive committee of the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) which chose Russia and Qatar to host the World Cups 2018 and 2022, respectively, in 2010, will be interrogated. The investigation is conducted on the articles about abuse of office and money laundering. The employees of the Swiss Prosecutor’s Office seized the data and documents contained in the IT-systems of FIFA that will be entered into the case file. Nine FIFA officials were arrested on charges of corruption in Zurich on Wednesday, May 27. The process of arrest took place in one of the five star hotels of the city. The investigation was initiated by the US authorities, all the arrested may be extradited to this country to conduct investigative actions. The presidential elections of FIFA were scheduled for Friday, May 29.
Author: Anna Dorozhkina